WANA: Ilyas Khasmiri has been killed in a drone strike in South Waziristan, the Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami confirmed on Saturday.

A fax sent to the media from a person claiming to be the spokesperson of the banned militant organisation stated that Kashmiri had been killed in a US drone strike on June 3. The translation reads:

On behalf of Harkat Jihad alIslami 313 Brigade we confirm the fact that our leader and Commander-in-chief Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, along with other companions, have been martyred in an American drone attack at 11:15 pm on June 3, 2011 and Insha Allah (God willing) the present pharaoh America will see our full revenge very soon. Our only target is America.

An official from the political administration of the area has confirmed that Kashmiri has been killed.

Earlier, a report on the BBC Urdu website had stated that Kashmiri had been killed along with eight other people in a US drone strike.

Kashmiri and his group are group linked to al Qaeda and are suspected of launching a 2006 suicide attack on the US consulate in Karachi and carrying out the attack on the PNS Mehran airbase.

A government official, on the condition of anonymity, had told the BBC correspondent that there were reports of Kashmiri being killed but there was no official confirmation. Officials also said that those killed were militants from Punjab.

Locals and witnesses had also said that Kashmiri had been killed in the drone attack.

Last August, Kashmiri was placed on a US list as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” and HUJI was labeled a “Foreign Terrorist Organisation.” HUJI and Kashmiri have also been added to a United Nations blacklist of individuals and entities linked to the al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The article has been revised to make the following correction:

Correction, June 4, 2011

Due to an editing error, the dates in the translation of the fax read January instead of June. The correction has been made.

see,the drones have killed a person who’s responsible for the deaths of hundreds of our people.The drones are a good thing.They’re finishing off the religious terrorists who’ve killed over 35000 of our people.The media should start to appreciate the good work of the drones,they’re saving thousands of pakistani lives by killing the religious terrorists before they can kill more of our people.Recommend

it is fact drone kill many terrorist and it also fact that some civilian were also killed in these type of attack but these numbers are not is so high as civilian killed in blast . if this news is true one of the enemy of Pakistan were kill by drone then why not we support the drone strike . imagine to kill this guy we need operation of at least 2000 soldier and God knows 40 to 50 army men may kill and many injured this is not bed deal but just take extra care to avoid civilian causality . Recommend

I wonder if Illiyas Kashmiri was a RAW agent …he blasted Mheran … and Orions … so he must be …. as Ikram Sehgal suggested .. Pakistan ISI and Army should be happy that he is killed … BUTTT …prey that there is no Meheran-II… may be they will form Brigade 626 to avenge Kashmiri…Recommend

I’ll say first that yes, I acknowledge drone strikes kill civilians sometimes. I will also say that I’m sure some reports are, in fact, accurate.

However, don’t trust too much in the numbers given. You have to realize that a lot of the time they are being given by the very same people who associate with the ones you find making fake propaganda updates in real time on the internet.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just go look it up. It’s not a theory or a hunch. They’re very real and they don’t try to hide it.

Kind of amusing really. According to them a random non-muslim’s tank has been blown up every 5 minutes, along with random territorial gain claims.Recommend

I can only laugh on the maturity of those so-called THINKERS who are now appreciating drone attacks …. How pathetic …. I am not against war on terror, but I think war on terror must be fight by PAK-ARMY in Pakistani soil…. may be these drones are today hunting fundamentalists … but tomorrow they will hunt our soldiers. THINK SENSIBLY …. Recommend

10 KMs from Wana in SWA? Didint we say that SWA was under complete control of the army ? Just 2 days back we were informed that there was no need of an operation in NWA. How many kashmiris enjoying in areas supposed to be in our control. Why do we have to protest against drones, they are doing a good job.Recommend

There has been lot of such informations in the past which turned out to be the opposite….there is no way to confirm this…so pls keep our fingers crossed…?? & pray on the overall mercy of Allah swt on our country……A`ameenRecommend

Just to get the facts straight, this guy was launched by ‘Pak’ Fauj.
An excerpt from a piece of writing by Saleem Shehzad:

So far A-Qaeda has introduced a few leaders for example Ilyas Kashmiri and his highly sophesticated guerrilla 313 Brigade who espoused the global Jihad.

Born in Bimbur (old Mirpur) in the Samhani Valley of Pakistan-administered Kashmir on February 10, 1964, Ilyas passed the first year of a mass communication degree at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. He did not continue due to his heavy involvement in jihadi activities.

The Kashmir Freedom Movement was his first exposure in the field of militancy, then the Harkat-ul Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) and ultimately his legendary 313 Brigade. This grew into the most powerful group in South Asia and its network is strongly knitted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. According to some CIA dispatches, the footprints of 313 Brigade are now in Europe and capable of the type of attack that saw a handful of militants terrorize the Indian city of Mumbai last November.

Little is documented of Ilyas’ life, and what has been reported is often contradictory. However, he is invariably described, certainly by world intelligence agencies, as the most effective, dangerous and successful guerrilla leader in the world.

He left the Kashmir region in 2005 after his second release from detention by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and headed for North Waziristan. He had previously been arrested by Indian forces, but he broke out of jail and escaped. He was then detained by the ISI as the suspected mastermind of an attack on then-president Pervez Musharraf, in 2003, but was cleared and released. The ISI then picked Ilyas up again in 2005 after he refused to close down his operations in Kashmir.

His relocation to the troubled border areas sent a chill down spines in Washington as they realized that with his vast experience, he could turn unsophisticated battle patterns in Afghanistan into audacious modern guerrilla warfare.

Ilyas’ track record spoke for itself. In 1994, he launched the al-Hadid operation in the Indian capital, New Delhi, to get some of his jihadi comrades released. His group of 25 people included Sheikh Omar Saeed (the abductor of US reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002) as his deputy. The group abducted several foreigners, including American, Israeli and British tourists and took them to Ghaziabad near Delhi. They then demanded that the Indian authorities release their colleagues, but instead they attacked the hideout. Sheikh Omar was injured and arrested. (He was later released in a swap for the passengers of a hijacked Indian aircraft). Ilyas escaped unhurt. On February 25, 2000, the Indian army killed 14 civilians in Lonjot village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after commandos had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) that separates the two Kashmirs. They returned to the Indian side with abducted Pakistani girls, and threw the severed heads of three of them at Pakistani soldiers.

The very next day, Ilyas conducted a guerilla operation against the Indian army in Nakyal sector after crossing the LoC with 25 fighters of 313 Brigade. They kidnapped an Indian army officer who was later beheaded – his head was paraded in the bazaars of Kotli back in Pakistani territory.

However, the most significant operation of Ilyas was in Aknor cantonment in Indian-administered Kashmir against the Indian armed forces following the massacre of Muslims in the Indian city of Gujarat in 2002. In cleverly planned attacks involving 313 Brigade divided into two groups, Indian generals, brigadiers and other senior officials were lured to the scene of the first attack. Two generals were injured (the Pakistan army could not injure a single Indian general in three wars) and several brigadiers and colonels were killed. This was one of the most telling setbacks for India in the long-running Kashmiri insurgency.

Within just months of arriving in the Afghan war theater in 2005, Kashmiri redefined the Taliban-led insurgency based on legendary Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap’s three-pronged guerrilla warfare strategy. For the Taliban, the main emphasis was to be placed on cutting NATO’s supply lines from all four sides of Afghanistan, and carrying out special operations similar to the Mumbai attack in Afghanistan. (See Asia Times Online)

Ilyas was “Mujahideen” and a “Strategic asset” till he killed foreigners/civilians in India.

When he did PNS Mehran, he became a villain?

Drone attacks are violation of “Sovereignity”.

When they kill Ilyas, they are Halaal?

Time for average Pakistanis to open the eyes and prepare for other “Strategic assets” like Haqqani, Mulla Omar, Dawood Ibrahim, Gulbadin Hekmatyar, Ayman Al Zawahiri to becoamse “Toxic” assets! Can Pakistan sustain that?Recommend

I am extremely distressed by another innocent Pakistani life lost to drone attack. I have lost another voter thanks to the US who have kept all their assets abroad. I am going to stage another 2-day dharna outside – this time outside the Quetta Shura. I hope again we have a massive crowd of over 100 people !!Recommend

Is this confirmed ? This dude had a lot of blood – Indian and Pakistani – on his hands… but about drone attacks, the fact that one militant is killed for two civilians (not exact numbers, but you see what I mean), doesn’t change the fact that innocents civilians are killed…Recommend

A lot has happened for the past one week but no comments from dear Imran Khan. Somebody in Pakistan must interview and ask him whether he would sit on dharna with his holi brigade for this deadly drone attack killing ten innocents including peaceful Kashmiri.Recommend

Is it the out come of US – Pak antiterorist squad ? If so its a good development .Now the loss of inncent lives can be avoided at the same time Drone operation will be not treated as breach of Pak sovereinity ,Is it the out come of US – Pak antiterorist squad ? If so its a good development .Now the loss of inncent lives can be avoided at the same time Drone operation will be not treated as breach of Pak sovereinity ,Recommend

This monster was a creation of Pakistan. After a raid in Kashmir killing some Indian army officer, Gen Musharraf had personally given him a cash reward of PKR 100,000 and a pistol. He was also involved in planning and directing Mumbai attack.

However, recently Pakistani patriots have been alleging that he was a creation of the Americans.What really surprises me that no ‘ghairatmand patriots’ are explaining why the Americans have killed their own asset.

The so-called liberals (or God knows what they refer themselves to) are celebrating the death of terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri that took place in a U.S. drone strike. They truly forgot to remorse on the killing of women, kids and “suspected” terrorists [read inncent until proven guilty] in drone attacks. Here I am posting to just throw a reminder at them. Ignorance is itself an extremism of one kind. Shame is a small word for them. May God bring them to some sanity.Recommend

My own gut feeling, it is some kind of drama played by the ISI or its Operatives to hoodwink the Americans as they have doing in the past. I wish it were true but I tend more to agree with Hassan and Feroz’s points of view that such news must be supported by some solid evidence to be credible and believable.Recommend

Those who cry that “innocents” are killed, umight want to remind themselves that all those who associate with such nefarious characters have long lost their innocence and should not be grieved over.
And, all those who “demand” proof also need to reassure themselves that proof will come in either of two ways: if they are not dead, they will soon walk amongst you or killed by arranging a suicide bomber to explode himself amongst you and if they are dead, neither of those things shall happen for a long time. No photos necessary. In any case, do you think Photoshop does not have the capability of producing a picture of a cadaver?Recommend

Imran Khan is a big hypocrite. After womanizing all over the world, he has become a big thakaidaar of Islam just like his fanatical spiritual fathers, the mullahs, because he knows so to come into power in Pakistan, one needs the blessings of the army, and the army will never approve one unless one has a cover of religiosity.Recommend

Can somebody explain why there is a COMPLETE blackout of this global news on Pakistani satellite news media (Geo, ARY, ExpressTV, Dawn – NOBODY has the report). Arguably, he was Pakistan’s enemy number 1, far exceeding the direct damage caused by Hakeemullah Mehsud, by the simple fact that he almost dragged the country into a life-threatening war with India – not to speak of his attacks on Mehran, GHQ, etc.Recommend

I did post a comment regarding the number of innocents earlier. But, after seeing some newer comments I’m compelled to add on to what I said before.

It’s the opposing side (Pakistan/America/etc.) that uses the words “militants” and “terrorists” when referencing their enemy. Those militants and terrorists do not call themselves militants and terrorists.

On their side, the militants are considered civilians who are fighting for whatever the conspiracy of the week is. If a drone strike kills 100 dangerous militants and the report comes from a supportive local person, they will say that 100 civilians have been killed and to them, that isn’t a lie.

It’s not rare for politically and religiously charged claims to twist semantics. That is one way of misleading people while still holding on to their supporters.Recommend

@ Ali – yes and Serbia turned him over to The Hague for justice. Has Pakistan turned over a single terrorist for crimes against humanity? No. Zero. The world has tried to play nice with Pakistan but it hasn’t worked for decades. The US finally woke up and said “Okay, fine. We will clean up Pakistan’s garbage.”

Pakistan should be dancing in the streets for these drones. They are doing the work that the military refuses to. Either kill the terrorists or die at their hands. They cannot co-exist or reason with sane, open-minded human beings.Recommend

Another reason to continue drones attacks, the best way to deal with these elements who are destroying our country and killing our citizens in the name of jihad, drones attack are really hurting them, only the religious parties who support these terrorists are against these attacks and some of our Tv anchors…and naive Imran Khan. Recommend

If one ignore the strident shrieks of the “ghairatmund” brigade, it may appear that the drones are an effective and clinical way of dealing with terrorism. Unlike artillery and air strikes civilian casualties are effectively minimized due two factors – the drones can hover around for hours over the target until everything has been ascertained and the hellfire missiles are precise.

The only problem is that they are US-controlled. However, can Pakistan really claim to actual real sovereignty over the FATA areas? For 64 years the states hold has been tenuous at best. These days it has become more of a joke as large parts of it have become either no man zones or ‘enemy’ territory.

Sadly, if drone technology was ever handed over to Pakistan, probably the first place our generals would use it would be in Balochistan to kill our own citizens.Recommend

@Mirza:
Thanks for the repartee. I am not saying USA is always an honest character but we know that a list of 5 has been given to Pakistan Military by Yanks for quick disposal. Military is under time pressure with a monkey riding its back. Such events must be corroborated by all players and evidence should support it. Otherwise we can get claims over the next month that all five rogues were eliminated. The time for hood winking has long gone so public will not accept statements and rhetoric without irrefutable proof. Recommend

Ilyas Kashmiri has got the reward he deserved. Next, on list should be Hafeez Saed, Mahzood Azhar, Lakhwi, Dawood Ibrahim etc.. These people have killed 1000s of innocent citizens of India. US should expand the drone attack to terrorist camp of Azad Kashmir and punjab also. Recommend

Drones being flown by Uncle’s men in ‘stars wars clothing’ sitting somewhere far away- effective and ruthless. Love Just waiting for Pakistanis to start demonstrating again against foreign intruders. But Uncle will keep flying these drones to get the likes of Kashmiri. Recommend

Alhamdoulillah! Today the whole of kashmir will rejoice for the killer of innocent kashmiris has been sent to his creator. Hopefully he wont get the necessary virgins as he will be declared a murderer of innocent kashmiris and not a martyr.Recommend

@Shahid: Musharraf played both sides all the time like in case of USA & Taliban or in case of Kashmiri terrorists & Lal Masjid episode. I have written on him on maximum occasions & always called him as a ‘chameleon’ and ‘fox’. I think he has single-handedly destroyed Pakistan.Recommend

It is widely believed that drone strikes in Pakistan are carried out by the US because of a tacit agreement with our authorities. They started when General Musharraf was in power and according to diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks, even chief of army staff General Kayani and Prime Minister Gilani supported these strikes in private while speaking against them in public. Religious parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami and politicians like Imran Khan have taken out protest rallies against drone strikes. Even the Americans are split over these strikes according to a report published in The Wall Street Journal, which said: “Fissures have opened within the Obama administration over the drone programme targeting militants in Pakistan, with the US ambassador to Pakistan and some top military leaders pushing to rein in the Central Intelligence Agency’s [CIA’s] aggressive pace of strikes.” Drone attacks have certainly led to an increase in anti-American sentiment in Pakistan but whether stopping these strikes would decrease or put an end to such sentiment is questionable given the fact that religious parties, politicians and our security establishment keep fanning it. Apart from India and Israel, now the US too has become one of our favourite punching bags. The only way to deal with this issue is to change our security paradigm. Pakistan’s military must give up its double game and dismantle all terror networks operating on our soil even if they are still considered ‘strategic assets’.Recommend